ESOL Services

Program Overview

We provide comprehensive ESOL services for the refugee and immigrant population in the Roanoke Virginia region. We serve almost 500 learners through classroom instruction and 1:1 tutoring. Our classes run 4 times a day MF, with evening classes Monday-Thursday. Our tutoring services follow no specific hours, but instead are determined by the tutor/learner schedule. Our classes are multi-level, entirely in English and designed with functionality and learner goals in mind. As such, our classes incorporate citizenship and driver's license test preparation, financial and health literacy, and more.

Cost Info

Student and Volunteer Success Stories

Gahda came with her family from Baghdad, where her husband was an engineer and she taught in a local college. They came to America, with their teenage daughter and young son, as political refugees after her husband's service with the American military made him a target of insurgent activity. Gahda came to BRL within weeks of their resettlement, to improve her beginner-level English and to find guidance in building a new life. After two years with BRL, Gahda now has a job as a teacher's aide in the public school system, her daughter through BRL assistance is enrolled in the local community college, and her husband works with a regional security service program. Gahda gives BRL credit for providing her the skills and encouragement to learn English.

Nyla came to Roanoke directly from a refugee camp six years ago, along with six of her children. A Dinka from South Sudan, Nyla saw her father and husband killed in civil unrest. Nyla has attended BRL pre-literacy, beginner, and now higher level English classes, and through the BRL citizenship preparation program has just become a naturalized citizen. Her two oldest children are now employed, helping with household expenses, and Nyla plans to seek a job soon since her youngest is now in school.